17.2.10

Management Strategies for Responding to White-Nose Syndrome In Bats

Since the discovery of White Nose Syndrome (WNS) in 2006 over a million bats that use caves and underground mines for hibernation have died from this syndrome.WNS is named for a recently identified fungus, Geomyces destructans, (Gargas et al. 2009) which grows on infected bats and prominently on the noses of the bats. As of March 2009 WNS has been confirmed on bats from caves and underground mines in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Vermont, West Virginia, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Virginia, and Pennsylvania (Gargas et al.2009).(...) By Tom Aley